


constellations

by visixns



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, y'all aint ready for the feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-30 04:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12646443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visixns/pseuds/visixns
Summary: “Come on,” he whispered, pointing towards the sleeping forms of their friends. “Let’s sleep.”Climbing into their fort, she fell tightly against his embrace and pulled the quilt higher to her chin, falling asleep with the lingering feel of finally belonging.(A collection of one-shots recalling moments from the life of these characters as they grow older, wiser, and fall more in love.)





	1. sleepovers

**Author's Note:**

> they literally all deserve the world I'm gonna cry brb

On their first collective sleepover, the night before their high school graduation, Mike made sure to reconstruct the fort that held years of pent up meaning along with the countless pillows and blankets that littered the basement floor. Board games were sprawled haphazardly on the floor and while Mike promised that there was a system behind this disarray, it wasn’t enough to keep his party from ruthlessly teasing his hosting methods. 

“Next time’s at my place,” Lucas had said and popped an Oreo into his mouth, sending a wink in Max’s direction, who simply rolled her eyes and leaned against El’s shoulder. 

“Dude you’re house barely has room for us to play D&D, so I’m not even sure what you’re playing at here,” Dustin laughed, eyes lighting up when he saw Steve descend the stairs that led to the basement of the Wheeler household. His hair was as perfect as ever, and Dustin grinned, remembering the secret of hair spray shared only between the two of them. Three bowls of chips balanced precariously on his arms, and Jonathan and Nancy found themselves running after him in fear of losing their beloved potato-infused calories. 

“What up dipshits,” Steve squatted, trying to look cool in the thick wool sweater he was wearing. “It’s time to get this party started yeah?” Jonathan buried his head in his hands in embarrassment, and Dustin snickered, teasing him.

“Dude, you’re trying too hard,”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, you are.”  


“Well shit…” 

They laughed, and as if the planet itself stopped spinning on its axis, all their worries melted into a puddle of nothing. They spent the entire night talking about sweet nothings and broken dreams and undetermined hopes. There was nothing that could bother their comfort.

Max leaned against Lucas, who told a wild story of monsters and soldiers and the formidable foes they faced. His wild gesticulations made the party laugh uncontrollably and quite pleased with himself, the boy leaned back in his seat and kissed Max’s forehead upon finishing.

El’s head, which was snuggly placed on Mike’s lap, was shaking so much from laughter that she had to sit up for the slightest of a second to avoid hurting Mike’s legs. Nancy smiled gently from where she sat, both her boy’s resting on each of her shoulders, Jonathan on her right and Steve on her left, both hugging her arms in earnest adoration for the kids that sat before them. 

It was as the journalist had said; the shared trauma of death and loss between the nine of them had created a bond so strong she doubted anything could ever sever it. Will, in his light blue pajama pants and giant quilt scooted closer to Mike, whispering something in his ear that made him double over in amusement. El had put her head back on his legs, his fingers gently braiding her small curls only to undo them seconds later, simply thankful that she was here. 

In the four years since her return, El had learned the true meaning of home. Looking around, the very thought of having a family watered her eyes and rocked a shudder through her body. She’d gone from having no one to care about her pain and suffering to a plethora, and excess, even, of people who couldn’t help but be worried about her well being. 

Over those forty-eight months, she had got to learn more about Steve, and absolutely fell in love with his mother-hen nature when it came to his “kids.” He quickly became one of her favorite adults, transforming from a stranger with a nail-studded bat to someone who she associated as her older brother. He’d be there in his endless kindness whenever she felt down, and drove her to her favorite ice-cream parlor to cheer her up. As far as teenagers went, he was probably the one Hopper trusted the most. 

Then there was Jonathan and Nancy, the two love birds who couldn’t keep their hands off of each other in the most subtle of ways. They were the ones she’d go to whenever she wanted help in anything in school or appearance related. Nancy, being the amazing sister she was, always embraced her in a way that reassured her that, maybe, Eleven wasn’t alone in her pain. The older girl went out of her way every Snow Ball and every Prom to dress her in the most elegant of dresses and the most natural of hair styles, reveling in the beauty that was Eleven Jane Hopper. 

Jonathan, now technically being her step-brother (along with Will) did everything in his power to make her feel at home. Her first real birthday party? She’s sure Jonathan has at the very least 40 different photos of her from thirteen different angles. Her first Snow Ball? You’d be a fool to think he didn’t have a candid photo of her and Will laughing and dancing stashed in his wallet, so that wherever his photography business took him, he’d always have his little monsters to accompany his lonely journeys.

On the flip-side however, ever since Joyce and Hopper’s reunion (which officially bound them as siblings), Jonathan and Will had both been relentless in their jokes about her kindling romance with a certain Michael Wheeler. She’d hit them both in the gentle manner she learned was called “teasing,” and tried her hardest to scowl. She never succeeded.

Then there was Will. The boy who she never once talked to before saving him, yet felt an inexplicable love and worry for every time he got that faraway look in his eyes. The two had been quick to become close friends, their friendship and love growing with every understanding of the pain the Upside Down had caused for the two children. She truly loved him with every inch of her heart and to this day can’t believe she got so lucky with such an amazing family. 

El’s eyes shifted to Lucas and Max, who were slowly falling asleep, and remembered their first true introduction. After her cold reaction to her upon her arrival at the Byers house, Mike had quickly figured out that she’d seen them at the school the day Max tried to impress him. Clearing up the confusion and been a tremendous way to kickstart the strong friendship between this badass duo. Snickering at their boys (for that’s what they’d become), the two ladies always found a way to one-up their boyfriends in anything they did. It almost became a game: how much can you embarrass the boys? Let’s find out!

Lucas and Dustin, on the other hand, had become more and more competitive in their game nights as the years wore on. The two were practically the clowns of the school, known by all and loved by all by the end of sophomore year. What had Eleven shocked the most, however, was how angry and protective they became whenever someone dared to even try to tease or make fun of El. Once, not too long ago, the ‘popular’ boy of the school had touched her backside in a more-than-menacing manner and Lucas broke his nose in one swift movement. Being new to this kind of danger, Dustin gave her his jacket and took her away from the crowd. When confronted by the principal, Lucas simply stated without a single trace of remorse, “He shouldn’t have touched her like that.”

Looking up now, she saw Mike smile down at her with a thousand and one unsaid promises twinkling in his eyes. She reached up, stroked his cheek, and pulled him down for a kiss, the softness of his lips sending a warm shiver down her spine. 

“Come on,” he whispered, pointing towards the sleeping forms of their friends. “Let’s sleep.”

Climbing into her fort, their fort, she fell tightly against his embrace and pulled the quilt higher to her chin. She fell asleep with the lingering feel of finally belonging.


	2. a new kind of danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love Lucas with all my heart :,)

The lunch line hadn’t moved a single inch in the past thirty minutes, and El’s patience was beginning to wear out. 

Her friends had already sat down, trays in hand, and Max stuck her tongue out and winked at the girl who ended up coming late to lunch because of her rendezvous with a certain Michael Wheeler.

Yet he had gotten his lunch too, his hair disheveled and a grin splitting his lips. She bit her lip; he looked adorable when he had that goofy smile. 

Looking back ahead, she saw that the line hadn’t moved in the least bit, the students ahead of her still shuffling their weight between their feet. She huffed and walked away, settling on grabbing a milk carton instead of a full lunch. She didn’t need one anyway; school would be over in a few hours and she could go home and binge on Eggos to her hearts desire. 

Walking back to the other side of the cafeteria, she noticed a shadow on her heel that seemed to inch closer with every step she took. She was a “senior” now (the title still tasted weird on her tongue) and almost eighteen and therefore unafraid of the other students (for the most part, at least). So, curious as to who was following her, she pulled into a crease of the wall that was hidden from the view of the students. 

She turner angrily, her short, curly hair whipping as she swiveled on her heels. 

The last person she was expecting to find behind her, however, was Bryan, the star athlete of the school, easily taking Steve’s former ‘King’ title. He was tall with a burly build, and although he always tried to catch her attention, claiming she was “the only one with a personality at this school,” Eleven couldn’t be bothered with even trying to listen to his narcissistic ramblings. 

Both Steve and Hopper had warned her about his womanizer ways, and while they never specified why he was a threat, she knew better than to ask. 

“What do you want, Bryan?” She sighed, tired of his relentless effort in trying to get her hand for Prom. “I already told you, I’m going with my boyfriend.”

She loved saying that word, loved claiming the freckles that dotted Mike’s cheeks and his caramel sweet eyes as her own. 

He towered above her, El’s 5’3’’ height not nearly enough to intimidate him. 

“That’s not why I’m here.” His voice had an edge of danger but she didn’t let it get to her. She wished she had. 

“Then what’re you here for?”

In the most swift movement, he leaned down and closed the gap between their lips and she choked on her own spit, disgusted, angrily pushing him away. Kissing was a sacred ritual that was only and forever reserved for Mike, a pang of guilt prodding her heart as she tried to get him off of her. His hand trailed down her back, lower and lower until it finally reached—

“What’re you doing?!”

Bryan gripped her wrists, and she considered killing him right then and there, squeezing his puny little brain out of his ears with the sheer force of will. And she would’ve, if it hadn’t been for the hand that yanked his shoulder back. 

“Hey!”

CRACK!

Bryan fell to the floor, already having lost consciousness before hitting the ground. In his place stood Lucas, a scowl painting his features as he shook his fist, the slightest trace of blood dripping down his knuckle. 

“Are you ok?” He asked quietly, stepping casually over Bryan to reach for her trembling frame. His hands reached for her shoulders and Eleven nodded numbly. 

“Yes.”

“Holy shit, El are you ok?” Dustin’s voice echoed as he ran over and she nodded again, falling into Lucas’ one-armed hug. Dustin quickly took off his jacket and handed it to her, Eleven grateful for the warmth in the suddenly cold atmosphere. 

“Mike’s in the bathroom,” Max whispered, rubbing her friend’s arms in an up-and-down motion to stimulate circulation, kissing her forehead gently. Footsteps rumbled through the cafeteria as the principal emerged from the gathering crowd of students, anger almost radiating off of him as he pointed accusingly at Lucas, who crossed his arms and stood defiantly in front of his friends. 

“Well I’ll have you expelled for this, Mr.Sinclair.”

“Expelled?” He questioned, chuckling without the slightest trace of humor. “He shouldn’t have touched her like that. If protecting my friend means expulsion, then so be it.”


	3. promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to aid with the imaging, El and Mike and the other boys are around 18-19 years old when this takes place, bc I love me some future!angst :,)

It was a quiet night in the November of 1990 when a flood of panicked knocking fell upon the Harrington-Wheeler-Byers household. Jonathan, having been the only one standing at the time (it was Wednesday, therefore marking his shift to cook dinner) ran to answer the stranger that was banging so hurriedly on their heavy oak doors. 

Only this wasn’t a stranger. 

As soon as Jonathan pulled the door open, the bleeding, bruised body of a certain Michael Wheeler fell face first on their newly bought carpet, staining it in a darkened crimson that seemed to seep endlessly from his forehead. 

“Nancy!”

She was there within seconds, kneeling beside her brother even before her name had left his throat. Steve was still running, his heavy footsteps echoing loudly throughout the hallway, Jonathan’s own expression mirroring the horror on Nancy’s face. 

“What happened?!” Nancy’s voice shook, her fingers trembling as she pushed back her brother’s blood-matter hair. 

“Robbed,” he croaked. “I was—I was robbed blind.”

With effort Steve turned the younger boy over, the only one amongst the three who seemed to be collected enough to act accordingly. He bundled Mike in his arms and carried him over to their couch, laying him gently as the other two adults followed like young ducklings behind their friend. Turning away, he looked at Nancy and cupped her face. 

“Go get a wet towel and clean his face, it’ll help prevent infection.” Nancy nodded numbly and he turned to Jonathan. 

“Could you grab our first aid kit from upstairs? I’m sure there’s some stuff in there we can use.”

Quietly, both parties obliged, and Steve knelt beside the boy that lay silent on the couch before him. 

“Should I call your friends?”

Groaning, Mike nodded. A cold wind blew from their open windows and a shiver ran down Steve’s spine as he stood to grab his keys. The last thing he heard before leaving the house was the soothing lullaby of Nancy’s voice cooing Mike to sleep.

—

Hopper was surprised, to say the least. 

In all honesty, the older man wasn’t expecting to find Steve, of all people, at his doorstep at—he stole a glance at the clock positioned by the door—nine-thirty-four in the night. Swinging the door a bit wider, he gave him a questioning glance, and nothing more. 

Steve fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze. 

“Uh, sorry for randomly showing up so late, Chief, I just need to borrow El for a second? If that’s fine?”

Before Hopper could open his mouth to answer, Eleven peeked her head out from behind the door and broke into a smile upon seeing the visitor.

“Steve!”

She shuffled around Hopper to greet him with a warm hug, pulling away only to ask what brought him to their door. 

“I, um, you forgot some stuff at our house and I wanted to make sure you picked them up,” he lied, hoping for once that El would see through his facade. She did, albeit a little late, and gave a slow nod. 

“Oh…yeah! My books,” she fabricated, looking up at Hopper. “I should probably go get them.”

Hopper, clearly unconvinced, simply shrugged and handed El the jacket that was hanging by the door, knowing better than to question their crazy antics.

“Sure kid, whatever you say. Just make sure you’re here when I wake up.”

She quickly pecked him on the cheek and followed Steve back to his car. When they reached the end of the woods and she knew they were out of Hopper’s hearing, Eleven turned to ask the older boy why he’d really come. 

“It’s Mike,” was all he had to say to have El’s heart jump to a thousand beats per minute, her pupils dilating to cover (almost) her entire caramel iris’. He shook his head. “We should go quickly, he’s pretty bad.”

She nodded numbly and quickly hopped into the passenger seat, not waiting for the rest of his explanation.

—

When they arrived at the house, the rest of the party was already there. Dustin, Will, and Lucas sat at the dinner table whispering quietly as Max helped clean the blood on Mike’s forehead. Nancy and Jonathan were at the foot of the couch, shakily preparing gauze pads for his wounds. 

“What happened to him?” She questioned loudly, and Nancy looked up, relieved to see her and Steve trudge into the living room. 

“I don’t know,” She muttered, looking back at her younger brother. “He said he got robbed, but I doubt anybody would do this much just for money,”

Eleven moved closer to Mike and Max looked up, handing her the bloodied wet towel in her hand. It was an unasked request, seeing the worry consume her eyes, and moving aside to let El take care of her lover. Max could’ve sworn that she heard her friend’s heart shatter into a hundred different pieces, each with his name smudged on it.

After a while of cleaning his cuts, (they still hadn’t figured out from what) Lucas pointed out how, now that there wasn’t any blooding caking his skin, his wounds looked (thankfully) pretty superficial. That was the first time they all collectively were able to release the breath they’d been holding.

It took a while to get a reaction from him, but precisely two hours after he fell onto their doorstep, Mike gave the first sign of waking up. Although only for a mere three seconds, he opened his eyes, scanned his surroundings, and fell back into El’s arms, his head lolling softly to her chest.

She simply whispered for him to go back to sleep, carded her fingers through his curls, and continued to change the towel on his forehead. Under the warm light of the living room, Dustin took note of how gentle her fingers were in their task, so different from when she used her powers. 

That night, they stayed in the house, together, and waited for their friend to wake up. It took a few more hours, but when he finally came to it, everyone was asleep, sprawled all around the tidy room, Lucas and Max sleeping with their backs against the couch, Jonathan and Nancy a pile on the ground (with pillows and blankets, of course) and Dustin, Will, and Steve on the table, their heads in their arms. 

Eleven, on the other hand, embraced him gently from behind, her arms curling around his shoulders and her head resting softly on his. He shuffled and he cursed himself for waking her up.

“Mike?”

Her voice sounded so beautiful, even when it was raspy and disoriented and filled completely to the brim with worry. 

“Where am I?” he whispered.

“Nancy’s house.”

“What happened?” 

“I should be asking you that.”

He paused for a moment before remembering the events of the night prior. When he looked back up, her fingers grazed the constellations that littered his cheekbones, her eyes glimmering hopelessly with unshed tears. He shifted and sat next to her, tilted her head with the tip of his finger, an unasked question, and she broke.

Unable to meet his eyes, she instead clung to his shoulders, her head tightly in the crevice between his neck and shoulder. Her slender fingers gently weaved through his unruly, unkempt curls and lulled him to sleep.

“You had me so scared, Mike. I thought—I thought I lost you.”

And even in his physical state, he still found the strength to console her. 

“You’ll never lose me. I promised, didn't I?”


End file.
